"Nobody watches the show for those guys" - Dutch Mantell reacts to top star claiming AEW would collapse if they leave
The AEW roster continues to expand in size, but is there any star on the roster who the promotion depends on? Matt Jackson of the Young Bucks seems to believe it's The Elite, but Dutch Mantell believes the promotion would go on without the faction.
For months, it seemed like The Elite would be parting ways with AEW and potentially sign with WWE. However, last week the entire faction was secured to a new deal, and the men all gave their takes on why they re-signed. While the others mentioned the pay and time with family, Matt Jackson claimed that the promotion would fall apart without them.
During a recent episode of Storytime with Dutch Mantell, the veteran boldly claimed that nobody would even notice that they were gone.
"They could walk off TV today and you know how long it would take to know that they're gone? It'd take three months. (...) Nobody watches the show for those guys. Now I don't know if he really believes that, but the best selling point is like the other guy said, Hangman Page, it pays well. If it pays that well they should never have anything cross their lips like 'We're getting ready to leave.'" [01:14 onward]
The Young Bucks are set to face FTR at ALL IN at Wembley later this month. Jim Cornette recently addressed their upcoming bout, and suggested that The Bucks walk away with the AEW World Tag Team Championships.
Missed out on last week's AEW Dynamite? Catch up with the results before tonight's show right here.
Despite his harsh statement, Dutch Mantell believes that AEW creative wrote Matt Jackson's speech
While some might have been happy to see The Elite part ways with All Elite Wrestling, Eric Bischoff believes it's a good thing they re-signed. During an episode of his Strickly Business podcast, he explained that the promotion's wrestling schedule would be best for their families.
Later in the same episode, Mantell suggested that the line was written for Matt Jackson instead.
"As far as the Bucks saying they are The Elite of AEW? Yeah, that's fine to put out on a press release, that's fine for your fans, but I don't think they wrote that, I think somebody else wrote that for them." [03:58 onward]
With their blockbuster bout against FTR at All In only a few weeks away, The Bucks have the rare opportunity to capture the titles one more time. Dax Harwood also notably said that the match would determine the best tag team in the business, so are The Bucks really the best?